INDIAN  NOTES 
AND  MONOGRAPHS 


VOL.  VI 


No.  4 


A  SERIES  OF  PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING  TO  THE 
AMERICAN     ABORIGINES 


AN  IMAGE  AND  AN  AMULET 

OF  NEPHRITE  FROM 

COSTA  RICA 


BY 


ALANSON  SKINNER 


NEW  YORK 

MUSEUM  OF  THE  AMERICAN  INDIAN 
HEYE  FOUNDATION 

1920 


Publications  of  the  Museum  of  the 
American  Indian,  Heye  Foundation 


THE   GEORGE   G.  HEYE  EXPEDITION 
CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  SOUTH  AMER- 
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY 
Vol.  1 

The  Antiquities  of  Manabi,  Ecuador:  A  Pre- 
liminary Report.  By  Marshall  H.  Saville. 
1907.    $25.00. 

Vol.2 

The  Antiquities  of  Manabi,  Ecuador:  Final 
Report.  By  Marshall  H.  Saville.  1910. 
$25.00. 

CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM  THE  MUSEUM 

OF  THE  AMERICAN  INDIAN, 

HEYE  FOUNDATION 

Vol.  1 

No.  1:  Lucayan  Artifacts  from  the  Bahamas. 
By  Theodoor  de  Booy.  Reprinted  from  Amer. 
Anthropol.,  Vol.  15,  1913,  No.  1.    50c. 

No.  2 :  Precolumbian  Decoration  of  the  Teeth 
in  Ecuador,  with  some  Account  of  the  Oc- 
currence of  the  Custom  in  other  parts  of 
North  and  South  America.  By  Marshall  H. 
Saville.  Reprinted  from  Amer.  Anthropol., 
Vol.  15,  1913,  No.  3.    50c. 

No.  3:  Certain  Kitchen-middens  in  Jamaica. 
By  Theodoor  de  Booy.  Reprinted  from 
Amer.  Anthropol.,  Vol.  15,  1913," No.  3.  (Re-- 
printed,  1919.)     50c. 

No.  4:  Porto  Rican  Elbow-stones  in  the  Heye 
Museum,  with  discussion  of  similar  objects 
elsewhere.  By  J.  Walter  Fewkes.  Reprinted 
from  Amer  Anthropol.,  Vol.  15,  1913,  No.  3. 
50c. 


INDIAN  NOTES 
AND  MONOGRAPHS 


VOL.  VI 


No.  4 


A  SERIES  OF  PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING  TO  THE 
AMERICAN     ABORIGINES 


AN  IMAGE  AND  AN  AMULET 

OF  NEPHRITE  FROM 

COSTA  RICA 

BY 

ALANSON  SKINNER 


NEW  YORK 

MUSEUM  OF  THE  AMERICAN  INDIAN 
HEYE  FOUNDATION 

1920 


This  series  of  Indian  Notes  and  Mono- 
graphs is  devoted  primarily  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  results  of  studies  by  members  of 
the  staff  of  the  Museum  of  the  American 
Indian,  Heye  Foundation,  and  is  uniform 
with  Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs, 
published  by  the  Hispanic  Society  of 
America,  with  which  organization  this 
Museum  is  in  cordial  cooperation. 


AN  IMAGE  AND  AN  AMU- 
LET OF  NEPHRITE 
FROM 
COSTA  RICA 

BY 

ALANSON  SKINNER 


SKINNER— NEPHRITE 


PL.  I 


ft     ;  1 

pjiJfoffi'n  iiiTiC'^iiift^M 


NEPHRITE   IMAGE 


AN  IMAGE  AND  AN  AMULET 

OF  NEPHRITE  FROM 

COSTA  RICA 

By  Alanson  Skinner 


I 


N  AN  unmarked  grave  at  Las  Mer- 
cedes, Costa  Rica,  a  nephrite  im- 
age (pi.  i)  was  unearthed  by  the 
Costa  Rican  expedition  of  the 
Museum  of  the  American  Indian,  Heye 
Foundation,  in  1916-17.  It  is  3|  inches  in 
height,  and  represents  a  person  with  hands 
folded  on  the  abdomen,  a  posture  not  un- 
commonly represented  in  the  larger  stone 
idols  of  the  district. 

The  figure  wears  a  headdress  which  on 
close  examination  appears  to  be  composed 
of  two  outward-facing  jaguar  heads.  Facial 
painting  or  tattooing  appears  in  conven- 
tional scroll  designs  on  the  cheeks,  upper 
chest,  and  arms. 

The  figurine  seems  to  have  been  intended 


111 


INDIAN    NOTES 


VI 


112 

COSTA    RICA 

for  use  as  an  amulet  or  a  pendant,  as  an 
attempt   has   been   made   to   perforate   it 
longitudinally,  boring  in  from  the  head  and 
feet.     The  maker  failed  in  his  effort,  how- 
ever, since  the  two  holes  have  not  been 
bored  far  enough  to  connect.     The  separa- 
tion of  the  arms  from  the  trunk,  and  the 
space  between   the  legs,   have   also  been 
effected  by  means  of  boring  a  series  of 
parallel  and  connecting  holes,  which  have 
been  so  run  together  as  to  make  the  cuttings 
still  plainly  show  the  borings,  and  the  gap 
between  the  feet  has  cut  into  one  side  of  the 
longitudinal  tunnel  meant  to  receive  the 
suspending   string.     The   figure   is   unique 
among  Costa  Rican  nephrite  objects,  and 
no  doubt  was  highly  prized  by  its  native 
owner.     Ramon,  the  "king"  of  the  Bribri 
of  the  Talamanca  valley,  once  showed  the 
writer  some  long  cylindrical  stone  beads 
which  he  explained  the  natives  valued  at  a 
cow  apiece.     Gold  ornaments,  he  averred, 
were  less  costly,  since  they  were  relatively 
easy  to  make,  but  these  stone  beads  were 
far  more  difficult  to  manufacture,  especially 
to  perforate. 

VI 

INDIAN   NOTES 

3 
< 


a: 
x 

Q. 

UJ 


-        i 


z 
z 


IMAGE   AND    AMULET 


113 


The  nephrite  amulet  illustrated  (pi.  n) 
is  one  of  thousands  of  specimens  taken  from 
the  necropolis  of  Las  Mercedes  by  the 
Museum's  expedition  of  1916-17.  It  is 
carved  in  a  lacy  pattern  showing  several 
highly  conventionalized  figures,  some  of 
which  may  possibly  represent  parrots.  The 
specimen  is  1 J  inch  high,  by  If  inch  broad. 

The  work  is  unusually  well  done,  even  for 
Costa  Rica,  and  the  polished  light  sea-green 
of  the  nephrite  lends  a  charming  effect. 
The  form  seems  to  be  unique,  and  the  object 
surpasses '  in  beauty  any  of  the  nephrite 
amulets  in  the  collection  of  the  National 
Museum  at  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


'-£/- 


No.  5:  Note  on  the  Archaeology  of  Chiriqui. 
By  George  Grant  MacCurdy.  Reprinted 
from  Amer.  Anlhropol.,  Vol.  15,  1913,  No.  4. 
50c. 

No.  6:  Petroglyphs  of  Saint  Vincent,  British 
West  Indies.  By  Thomas  Huckerby.  Re- 
printed from  Amer.  Anlhropol.,  Vol.  16,  1914. 
No.  2.    50c. 

No.  7:  Prehistoric  Objects  from  a  Shell-heap 
at  Erin  Bay,  Trinidad.  By  J.  Walter  Fewkes. 
Reprinted  from  Amer.  Anlhropol.,  Vol.  16, 
1914,  No.  2.    50c. 

No.  8 :  Relations  of  Aboriginal  Culture  and  En- 
vironment in  the  Lesser  Antilles.  By  J. 
Walter  Fewkes.  Reprinted  from  Bull.  Amer. 
Geogr.  Soc,  Vol.  46,  1914,  No.  9,  50c. 

No.  9:  Pottery  from  Certain  Caves  in  Eastern 
Santo  Domingo,  West  Indies.  By  Theodoor 
de  Boov.  Reprinted  from  Amer.  Anlhropol., 
Vol.  17',  1915,  No.  1.     50c. 

Vol.2 

No.  1 :  Exploration  of  a  Munsee  Cemetery  near 
Montague,  New  Jersey.  By  George  G.  Heye 
and  George  H.  Pepper.     1915.    $1.00. 

No.  2 :  Engraved  Celts  from  the  Antilles.  By 
J.  Walter  Fewkes.     1915.    50c. 

No.  3 :  Certain  West  Indian  Superstitions  Fer- 
taining  to  Celts.  By  Theodoor  de  Booy. 
Reprinted  from  Journ.  Amer.  Folk-Lore,  Vol. 
28,  No.  107,  1915.    50c. 

No.  4:  The  Na.nticoke  Community  of  Dela- 
ware.    By  Frank  G.  Speck.     1915.    $1.00. 

No.  5:  Notes  on  the  Archeology  of  Margarita 
Island,  Venezuela.  By  Theodoor  de  Booy. 
1916.    50c. 

No.  6 :  Monolithic  Axes  and  their  Distribution 
in  Ancient  America.  By  Marshall  H.  Saville. 
1916.     50c. 


Vol.  3 

Physical  Anthropology  of  the  Lenape  or  Dela- 
wares,  and  of  the  Eastern  Indians  in  Gen- 
eral. By  Ales  Hrdlicka.  (Bur.  of  Amer. 
Ethnol.,  Bull.  62,  1916,  with  added  title-page 
and  cover.)     $1.00. 

Vol.  4 

No.  1 :  The  Technique  of  Porcupine-Quill  Dec- 
oration among  the  North  American  Indians. 
By  William  C.  Orchard.     1916.    $1.00. 

No.  2:  Certain  Archeological  Investigations 
in  Trinidad,  British  West  Indies.  By  Theo- 
door  de  Booy.  Reprinted  from  Amer.  An- 
thropol.,  Vol.  19,  1917,  No.  4.    50c. 

No.  3:  The  Nacoochee  Mound  in  Georgia.  By 
George  G.  Heye,  F.  W.  Hodge,  and  George 
H.  Pepper.     1918.    $1.50. 

Vol.5 

No.  1 :  A  Letter  of  Pedro  de  Alvarado  Relating 
to  his  Expedition  to  Ecuador  [15341.  By 
Marshall  H.  Saville.     1917.    50c. 

No.  2 :  The  Dieguefio  Ceremony  of  the  Death- 
Images.     ByE.  H.Davis.     1919.    50c. 

No.  3:  Certain  Mounds  in  Haywood  County, 
North  Carolina.     By  George  *G.  Heye.     Re- 
.     printed  from  Holmes   Anniversary   Volume. 
1916.     1919.    50c. 

No.  4:  Exploration  of  Aboriginal  Sites  at 
Throgs  Neck  and  Clasons  Point,  New  York 
City.     By  Alanson  Skinner.     1919.    $1.00. 

Address : 

Museum  of  the  American  Indian,  Heye 

Foundation, 

Broadway  at  155th  St., 

New  York  City 


